Display and dispensing refrigerator



Sept. 13, 1949. P. SPIRO DISPLAY AND DISPENSING REFRIGERATOR Filed larch 30, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Sb I IINVENTOR Philip ,S miro Mz-QQM 2 Sheets -Sh aet 2 P. sm o I I I In a 2 mg??? M I! lfivsmol a v l g/2161a; spuo ATIID/ILAJEYS Sept. 13, 1949.

DISPLAY AND DISPENS ING REFRIGERATOR Filed larch so, 1946 Patented Sept. .13, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DISPLAY AND DISPENSING REFRIGERATOR Philip Spiro, West New Brighton, N. Y. Application March 30, 1946, Serial No. 658,535 6 Claims. (01. 62-89(5) This invention relates to refrigeration, and more in particular to a self-service cabinet for storing and dispensing frozen food or the like.

An object of this invention is to provide such a cabinet which will satisfy the various requirements of use in' a practical and dependable manner. A further object is to provide an efllcient refrigerated cabinet for frozen foods or the like of the type which may be used in a self-service store and which will give thoroughly satisfactory performance under varying conditions. These and other objects will be more thoroughly pointed out below.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective 'view of one embodiment of the invention with a door section cut away to show the interior; and,

Figure 2 is a vertical section of the embodiment of Figure 1.

' Referring particularly to Figure 1 of the drawings, an upright cabinet is shown havin a lower storage compartment 2 and an upper storage compartment 4 which are enclosed in heat-insulated walls. Compartment 2 has a pair of doors 6 hinged at 5 and having latches 9, and compartment. 4 has a door 1 hinged along its upper edge by hinges 8 and held closed by latches 9. Compartment 4 is narrower than compartment'2 so that a recessed shelf-like display space I is provided along the front of the cabinet. Referring to Figure 2, packages are supported in display space ill by a slanting sheet metal rack IZbeneath which is a refrigerated plate l4. Beneath plate 14 is a sheet metal partition l6 which is watertight and which forms the top Wall of compartment 2. Refrigerated plate l beneath partition l6 and refrigerated plate I! at the rear of compartment 2 cooperate to provide the main cooling for compartment 2, but this cooling effect is augmentd by the action of plate l4.

Positioned respectively along the front and rear walls of compartment 4 are two refrigerated plates l8 and 20 and at the front edge of the display space In are two refrigerated plates 22 and 24. Plates 22 and 24 provide a horizontal trough 26 within which odd-sized packages of frozen products may be displayed and at the same time plates 22 and 24 cooperate with plates l4, I8 and 20 to maintain the upper compartment 4 and the display space I 0 in refrigerated condition. The space at the left of plate 24 is divided into a large number of spaces for packages on display by transverse partitions 21. (see also Figure 1). These partitions are in alignment with similar vertical partitions 28 in compartment 4 which form vertical chutes; in each of these chutes the packages 30 are stored in a double row. Thus a number of parallel raceways or chutes are provided from the top of compartment 4 to plate 24, which plate acts as a stop and holds the packages in the manner shown. The passing of the packages outwardly at the bottom of compartment 4 is insured by a curved plate 32 which directs the lower edges of the packages outwardly along plate I 4.

The front and side walls of compartment 2 extend up above the lower edge of the front wall of compartment 4 so as to provide a blanket of cold air in the open-topped display space In; the packages of food are immersed in this blanket of cold air. Thus, the packages arerefrigerated and displayed, and may be removed as desired by the customers; and, when one package is removed, another package replaces it in the display space. The display space 26 between plates 22 and 24 may be used for packages of odd sizes which are not placed in the chutes in compartment 4.

With this arrangement the cold blanket of air in display space In extends above the lower open end of compartment 4 so that warm air will not pass up into compartment 4. Thus, there is no appreciable" tendency for the air in compartment 4 to flow out and be replaced by warm moist air; therefore, frost does not accumulate on the refrigerated walls of the compartment, and the packages in compartment 4 are held in refrigerated condition without a variation in temperature.

During normal use the packages to be dis pensed are placed in the vertical chutes by opening door I, and after the chutes have been filled the door is reclosed and remains closed. The reserve supply of frozen foods is kept in compartment 2 and this compartment is satisfactorily refrigerated by the effect of plates l4, l5 and I1. Refrigerated plates I5 and H, which do the main cooling of compartment 2, are in a refrigerant circuit which is separate from and parallel to the circuit of plates I4, I8, 20, 22 and 24 (which cool compartment 4 and display space l0), and the system is valved so that the compartments may be separately defrosted. Thus, the lower compartment may be used to store all of the refrigerated food during the defrosting of the upper compartment and the display space; and, when desirable the upper compartment may be refrigerated without refrigerating the lower compartment. The lower compartment is provided with a drain 34 for the escape of water I 2,4s1,79o

. 3 during defrosting or cleaning, and a drain 36 is provided at the lower edge of partition I6 for the escape of water during defrosting and cleaning of the upper compartment and the display space.

Positioned beneath door I is a fluorescent light 38 which provides illumination in the display space. gaskets so that leakage is at a minimum. During the loading of the chutes door 1 is lifted back and it rests over the top of the cabinet and need not be held. a

As many possible embodiments may be made of the above invention and as many changes might be made in the embodimentabove set forth, it is to be understood that all matter hereinbefore set forth, or shown in the accompanying drawings, is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. In a refrigerated cabinet construction, the combination of, wall means defining a lower compartment and an upper compartment with a refrigerated partition separating the two compartments, said upper compartment having a horizontal portion which is open-topped and which is adapted to hold the packaged food for display and having a vertical portion positioned along one edge of said horizontal portion which is closed except at its lower end where it is open into said horizontal portion, and refrigeration means to maintain said compartments in refrigerated condition whereby the air in both compartments is maintained cold and the lower end of said vertical portion is immersed in a cold blanket of air in said horizontal portion.

2. In a self-service cabinet for storing and dis- 4 compartment and thence transversely across said lower compartment directly beneath said horizontally disposed opening whereby packages which are placed in said chutes are passed by gravity from said upper compartment and into a display zone beneath said horizontally disposed opening, and refrigeration means to maintain said Doors 6 and I are provided with double pensing packaged products, the combination of, rack means forming a plurality of package holding and dispensing raceways each of which has'a vertically disposed portion in which packages are stored and a horizontally disposed portion to which the packages within the vertically disposed portion are automatically directed by gravity for removal, insulated wall means enclosing said rack means and having door means which may be opened to provide access to the tops of said raceways whereby packages may be placed in the raceways and having a horizontally disposed package removing opening above the horizontally disposed portions of the raceways with the level of said horizontally disposed opening being above the lower portion of the walls enclosing the vertically disposed portions of the raceways, and means to refrigerate packaged products held in said raceways and to maintain a blanket of cold air at said horizontally disposed opening whereby warm air does not have access to the lower'ends of the vertically disposed portions of said raceways.

3. In a self-service cabinet for storing and dispensing packaged products, the combination of, wall means defining a lower compartment which has a horizontally disposed top opening and an upper compartment which is positioned mainly above the level of said top opening and which is relatively narrow and is open at its lower end into said lower compartment beneath the level of said top opening, and partition means defining a plurality of parallel package chutes each of which extends from adjacent the top of said upper compartment downwardly through said upper compartments in refrigerated condition whereby a blanket of cold air is maintained at said horizontally disposed opening and around the lower end of said upper compartment.

4. Apparatus as described in claim 3 wherein said upper compartment is refrigerated by a refrigeratlon circuit which is different from the refrigeration circuit for said lower compartment whereby the two compartments may be refrigerated selectively.

5. In a refrigerated cabinet construction, the combination of, wall means defining a lower compartment and an upper compartment with a partition separating the two compartments, said upper compartment being somewhat L-shaped in vertical cross-section with a horizontal portion which is adapted to hold packaged food for display and with a vertical portion positioned generally above the level of said horizontal portion and opening at its bottom to one edge of said horizontal portion, said vertical portion being closed except at its lower end where it is open to said horizontal portion beneath the top of said horizontal portion, and refrigeration means to maintain said compartments in refrigerated condition whereby the co-.tents of said compartments are maintained at a temperature substantially below the temperature of the air surrounding the cabinet and the lower end of said vertical portion is immersed in a cold blanket of air in said horizontal portion.

6. In a refrigerated cabinet construction, the

combination of, wall means defining a plurality of compartment portions with there being a vertical compartment portion which is relatively narrow in horizontal extents and with there being a horizontal portion which is relatively narrow in its vertical extent, and with said vertical and horizontal portions being so proportioned and arranged as to form a frozen food storage and display compartment which is generally L-shaped in vertical cross-section, said frozen food compartment being closed except for a top hori-' zontal opening for said horizontal compartment portion which is above the level of the bottom of said vertical compartment portion, and refrigeration means to maintain said compartment portions in refrigerated condition whereby the air therein is maintained at a temperature substantially below the normal temperature of. the air surrounding the cabinet with the result that the lower end of said vertical compartment portion is immersed in a cold blanket of air in said horizontal compartment portion.

PHILIP SPIRO.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in file of this patent: V

Number Name 1,619,999 Wright Mar. .8, 1927 2,405,432 Kleist Aug. 6, 1946 the 

